What The Audience Sees:
"This Friday was totally nutsorama! Jamie came in and told us he was going to show us a trick with just twenty cards. He gave me ten to hold and then showed me the faces of his ten. He then asked me to just think of one of the faces of his ten cards, which I did. He then waved his hands, summoned the devil, or whatever the %##^ is he does, because he showed me his cards...and there were only nine! Are you hearing me out there?!! One of his cards left his hands!!!! I was scared, man! I didn't even want to count how many cards I had but he made me! And there were eleven!!! And you know what's coming, right?! My thought of card was there...in my hand!!! @^%@ somebody save us from this guy!!!"
How It Went:
Lol, from the description above, you can probably guess. I'm still doing Magic Fridays every week but haven't been writing them up here as much as I'd like due to magazine commitments, bad weeks, etc. but this one was so good I thought everyone here might like to read about it...
This destroyed. I mean it was a complete massacre. I've been putting off doing Strange Travelers because I was worried about how it would play to a group due to the fact that only one card travels but it honestly didn't seem to matter. A number of times, even though I only asked one person to think of a card, when I showed the nine cards, a few people in the group would yell, "OMG! Mine's gone too!!!" And when we counted the eleven in the one spec's hand, everyone would be leaning over it saying, "Mine's here as well!!" which shouldn't make sense. If their cards actually did travel then I should be holding seven and they should be holding thirteen, but it just never came up.
This is a good lesson in just going out there and trying things. I think we're so knowledgeable and, in some cases cynical, that we forget how life changing this stuff is. If a person has never seen a math equation in their life (like someone in preschool), then they have absolutely no idea that 2 + 2 =4 (I hope that's right) no matter how obvious it is to the rest of us.
And no one cared that the count was off- they were just amazed that their card was gone, and had reappeared, as well. Now, that said, I never said "Everyone think of a card.", because that might be asking for trouble. I would just ask one person and if others looked as well, all the better. And don't forget, the count is perfect with one person.
Best Lines:
"Jamie, how? How? How? How? How?" - it was like I had just dropped a gear into their brainworks and they got stuck, lol.
"Aiiieyeyyeahiieahe!" - this spec scared the daylights out of me, lol. I thought she became possessed, lol.
Angry Bob Rating:
For those of you reading this article for the first time, Angry Bob is a co-worker who has an understanding of some magic because his uncle was a magician. Angry Bob knows that TT’s exist, for example, but he has no desire to become a magician himself. He also has an anger management problem that can be experienced first hand if he can’t figure out how a trick is done. A high rating means he has no idea.
2/5. $@%@. I thought I had him until he said, "Give me your cards m^#^%@%25&." I, of course, didn't, and used the line provided, "Trust me. You don't want to know", to which he replied, "Oh, I wanna know $@$@ @^% @%$@ and I'm going to find out!". It all ended with one of us, again, being in a headlock.
And I have to say that Angry Bob was the only person all day to ask to see the cards. Even my regulars (50% of the day's audience) never asked. I think it has to do with the fact that they only think of their selection. In their heads, no matter what I'm holding could tell me what was in their heads- it must be real magic.
My Rating:
Not much to say here- 10/10. I loved it and it was a home run all day. I'm even going to make the card box to carry these around with me all the time.
The JDG Tip:
Okay, I've got a few things that helped me throughout the day:
1) When I brought out the case holding ten cards a side, I would say, "We're going to do a trick with only twenty cards, there's ten on each side here to help me keep track." which makes it seem like they're this way o help me not screw up the trick as opposed to helping me fool them- there's a difference there that they picked up on. If I was saying that to trick them, the would demand to count them themselves but if they think the cards are that way so that I don't embarrass myself, then it's believable- it's in your body language, attitude, and voice.
2) When I took the two packets out and counted theirs for them, I didn't count out loud! I know that sounds a bit crazy but I would almost mumble to myself until the very end and say, "...mumble mumble ten. Cool. Hold onto these." Again, it seems like I'm doing this for my own benefit and that the trick hasn't started yet.
3) I would then let them clearly count mine with me but prefaced it by saying, "And just for you cynics, you can see that I'm holding ten, look..." And we would count together. No one cares about the ones they're holding because their mind is telling them there is only twenty cards total. Since they know that I might do something fishy to the ones in my hand, these are the ones that they want to count to ensure I am, in fact, holding ten. They count, and we're all happy.
4) After their card has disappeared from my packet, I really needed to say, "Count your cards, facedown." as stated in the instructions. In the beginning, people would be so excited that they couldn't care less about how many they were holding and were just looking to see if their card was in their hand. If it was a large group, however, I didn't put as much emphasis on the count if I new that more than one person had selected one. I would simply say, "I only have nine...Look in your hands..." and everyone would freak out.
As an interesting note on psychology, with a large group, no one would comment on the count. The first thing they would do is ask each other what card they all thought of. They wanted to see if they all thought of the same one. An interesting look at the bonding process of a group.
Closing Thoughts:
It was great day and I'm always totally happy when I try a trick that I'm not sure will play, only to find out that I'll use it forever. Be fearless!
Go buy an "Anything Is Possible" bottle so I can go buy some more Higley stuff,
jamie d. grant
vancouver magician
visit: www.whatizit.net
p.s. Have a great week!
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